Croix du Nord was the champion 2-year-old male in Japan in 2024, the winner of the 2025 Japanese Derby, and a Grade 1 winner earlier this year in the $3.6 million Osaka Hai at Hanshin Racecourse in April. On Sunday at Kyoto Racecourse, Croix du Nord has a different assignment – starting for the first time at two miles in the Grade 1 spring running of the Tenno Sho. Croix du Nord is widely expected to achieve another Grade 1 win in the marathon test. Trained by Takashi Saito for Sunday Racing Co., Ltd., Croix du Nord will likely be an odds-on favorite despite facing 14 rivals in the $3.66 million Tenno Sho. A winner of 6 of 9 starts, Croix du Nord will have his second start of 2026 on Sunday. The win in the Osaka Hai ended the only two-race losing streak of Croix du Nord’s career – a 14th-place finish in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris in October, and a fourth-place finish by 3 3/4 lengths behind the French shipper Calandagan in the Grade 1 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse in November. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Interestingly, Croix du Nord won the Group 3 Prix du Prince d’Orange at 1 1/4 miles at Longchamp last September, finishing a short head in front of Daryz, who won the Arc de Triomphe. The Osaka Hai at 1 1/4 miles was Croix du Nord’s third career Grade 1 win. By Kitasan Black, Croix du Nord has not raced beyond 1 1/2 miles, the distance of the Arc, Japan Cup and Japanese Derby. Sunday’s Tenno Sho field includes the recent graded stakes winner Admire Terra and Redentor, who won the 2025 spring running of the Tenno Sho. Admire Terra, a 5-year-old who has won 6 of 13 starts, ended a three-race losing streak with a win in the Group 2 Hanshin Daishoten at 1 7/8 miles at Hanshin Racecourse on March 22, closing from sixth in a field of 10. Sunday’s race is Admire Terra’s first at two miles. Redentor, a winner of 6 of 10 starts, has started once since his career-defining win in the 2025 spring running of the Tenno Sho. He was eighth of 12 in the Grade 2 Kyoto Kinen at 1 3/8 miles in February. Post time for the spring running of the Tenno Sho is 2:40 a.m. Eastern on Sunday or 11:40 p.m. Pacific on Saturday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.